CONFIDENTIAL
Mr McLaren
1. Perhaps the key point to emerge from the despatch is that China is now beginning to see the value of a peaceful international environment where different interests are reconciled through pragmatic negotiation, rather than a continuing high degree of global tension where interests are played off against each other through ideological rhetoric. China's gradual entry into the international community with its emphasis on consensus, rule of law, and responsibilities as well as rights, is a natural consequence of her economic open-door policies, and is a development which the West must
encourage.
2. But China's involvement with the international community is still a hesitant one, with China retaining her long-standing strategy of independence and the tactics of equidistance. The despatch notes that China's relations with the US are more stable and closer than her relations with Japan and implies that Sino-Japanese rivalry is more likely than a Sino-Japanese tandem. But we can also expect Sino-US relations to continue to contain a note of discord (Taiwan, Tibet) as China seeks to show that her involvement with the US is a qualified one, not involuntary and total dependence. Sino-Soviet relations are also dampened by continuing Chinese suspicions of Soviet intentions and the three obstacles. It is perhaps only really China's relations with Europe that reflect any wholehearted commitment, in large part because China wants Europe to show the same independence of Japan and the superpowers.
R
hurr
Richard Fletcher-Cooke
SB9 ABG
CONFIDENTIAL